Institute criticised the Rudd Government's proposed Australian emissions trading scheme (or Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme), arguing that it failed to adequately take into account voluntary action and delivered excessive compensation to polluting industries. The Australia Institute spoke positively of the design of the carbon price mechanism implemented by the Gillard Government, arguing that beginning with a fixed price and transitioning to an emissions trading scheme made sense given that there was no consensus about what the emissions reduction target should be. In 2014, Ben Oquist (then the Australia Institute's strategy director) was involved in the Palmer United Party's decision to vote against the abolition of the Renewable Energy Target, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and the Climate Change Authority. Oquist wrote that "The Australia Institute is disappointed that the carbon price is likely to be repealed" but that "The Palmer-Gore announcement has re-set climate policy and politics. Keeping the CCA, the RET and the CEFC is much more than most expected from the PUP. We have avoided a big step backwards." In 2017, the Australia Institute reported that Australia's greenhouse gas emissions were "rising rapidly" since the abolition of the carbon price, with economist Matt Grudnoff criticising the National Energy Guarantee proposed by the Turnbull Government, saying that it would be “likely to cause our emissions to rise even faster”. In 2017, The Australia Institute took over The Climate Institute's intellectual property after that institute closed, and subsequently launched a Climate and Energy Program to continue the work. The first Climate of the Nation report produced by The Australia Institute was released in 2018. Tax reform debate The Australia Institute employs several economists who have published papers arguing for tax reform, particularly in the areas of superannuation tax concessions, negative gearing, capital gains tax and goods and services tax. During the 2016 Australian federal election, the Institute published a series of critiques of the Coalition's proposed policy of cutting the company tax rate. The Australia Institute has also criticised the final two stages of the Turnbull Government's three-stage income tax cut plan, releasing research into how the benefits from the tax cut are distributed by income and electorate. Funding and Resourcing The Australia Institute had a total gross income $7.75 Million (Australian dollars) in 2022 ($7M in 2021, and $4.46 Million in 2020) and is funded by donations from philanthropic trusts and individuals, as well as grants and commissioned research